Creation of Interdisciplinary Research Centers
Another trend at RIT was the transition from the model of an individual principal investigator (PI) working with an undergraduate or graduate student to one of interdisciplinary research centers. These centers incorporated multiple grants and PIs, many graduate and undergraduate students, and an increasing number of Ph.D. students and even some post-doctoral researchers. A new designation was established in 2009, titled RIT Research Centers of Excellence. These centers include the NanoPower Research Labs (NPRL), Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Lab (DIRS), Multidisciplinary Vision Research Lab (MVRL), Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics (LAMA), Center for Detectors (CFD), Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation (CCRG), Center for Advancing Science/ Mathematics Teaching, Learning and Evaluation (CASTLE), and Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity (MAGIC) Center. All of these initiatives resulted in dramatic growth in both the number of proposals and the number of new research awards received.